Ohio lawmakers approve nearly $700M in federal infrastructure money for highways, public transit

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State lawmakers on Wednesday handed laws approving almost $700 million in federal transportation funding given to Ohio beneath the Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation handed earlier this 12 months.

Home Invoice 338, which handed each the Ohio Senate and Home by huge margins, additionally authorizes the state’s transportation director to award contracts of as much as $1.5 billion in design/construct contracts to renovate the functionally out of date Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati. It additional permits Ohio to enter into agreements with different states to implement penalties for toll violations by out-of-state drivers, amongst different issues.

Below the invoice, the Ohio Division of Transportation would get $672,598,581 in federal freeway development cash approved beneath the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure legislation, signed by President Joe Biden final 12 months. ODOT would additionally get an extra $18.3 million from the feds for public transportation beneath the laws.

One of many few lawmakers to vote towards the measure was state Sen. Niraj Antani, a Dayton-area Republican. He urged his colleagues to vote no as a method to assist federal officers “curtail their dependancy to this tax-and-spend tradition that has brought about runaway inflation.”

The $1.5 billion approved for the Brent Spence bridge comes as ODOT needs to rent a administration workforce for Ohio and Kentucky’s $2.8 billion plan to renovate the almost 60-year-old bridge over the Ohio River. The undertaking would construct a brand new bridge alongside it and widen close by highways. Ohio and Kentucky officers mentioned they might apply for federal funding for the bridge by early subsequent week, in accordance with the Cincinnati Enterprise Courier.

HB338 states that ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks may search to award design/construct contracts that exceed $1.5 billion, however provided that he first will get permission from the Ohio Controlling Board, a panel composed mainly of state legislators that approves spending requests from state companies.

The invoice, if signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, would permit Ohio to enter into agreements with different states to assist acquire tolls owed by out-of-state residents by refusing purposes or transfers of motorized vehicle registration till the tolls receives a commission.

For instance, beneath the invoice, Ohio may enter into an settlement with Indiana that if any Indiana residents don’t pay tolls whereas driving on the Ohio Turnpike, the state of Indiana may refuse to let these residents apply for or switch their automobile registration till they pay the turnpike. The identical could be true for Ohio residents who owe tolls in Indiana beneath this hypothetical state of affairs.

“It’s typically troublesome to implement toll violations dedicated by out-of-state drivers if these drivers ignore the toll invoices and there’s no extra enforcement mechanism in place,” in accordance with an evaluation of HB338 by the non-partisan Legislative Service Fee. “Agreements between states to implement toll violations dedicated by their residents in one other state could doubtlessly cut back these violations.”

The laws would permit present and former army members to acquire a business driver’s license without having to move a data check.

HB338 would make it simpler for regional transit authorities in Ohio to borrow cash by issuing bonds. The invoice would allow any RTA within the state to problem income bonds backed by the proceeds of the RTA’s personal gross sales tax. At present, RTAs in Ohio can solely safe bonds with charges, prices, or any county sales-tax income given to the RTA.

The laws offers extra leeway for Columbus’ public-transportation system, the Central Ohio Transit Authority, relating to issues like buying property, spending sales-tax income, and constructing infrastructure regardless that it’s not thought-about a “transit facility.”

The invoice additional permits state officers to proceed spending cash in 2023 on initiatives beforehand accepted by the legislature. Such permission is required as a result of the funds legislation that comprises the cash expires this 12 months. Reappropriations beneath HB338 embody:

• $1 million to supply grants to Jewish neighborhood organizations for emergency safety upgrades
• $750,000 for grants to the Veterans of Overseas Wars Emergency Restore Program
• $500,000 for the Ohio Fee for the U.S. Semiquincentennial, which is planning to acknowledge the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence in 2026.
• $350,000 to help the Bradfield Neighborhood Heart in Lima
• $15,000 to help the Lorain Pier Planning Mission

Additionally included is the preliminary language of the invoice, which might permit a bike security and schooling program to supply a remaining expertise examination that’s totally different from the state’s examination, supplied the non-public examination meets or exceeds state necessities. It will create new charges to determine a bike security program and certify instructors.